Poultry processing industries commonly use automated lines to kill, eviscerate, pluck and further process birds. Rotational devices are generally employed to facilitate continuity of process and to minimize labor. One of the most common poultry processing machines is a plucker or de-featherer. For many years devices incorporating a number of pliable fingers have been utilized to beat and pull the feathers from bird carcasses.
In processing facilities, multiple finger-type plucking devices are used in sequence to fully pluck a carcass. Typical plucking processes incorporate opposing pairs of finger-typed pluckers which are sufficiently spaced apart to maneuver a bird carcass therebetween. Initial plucking is completed with a pair of spaced-apart finger-type pluckers having a plurality of rigid, spaced-apart fingers. Subsequent plucking of fine feathers is accomplished by passing the bird between opposed pairs of pluckers having multiple pliable fingers. Automated plucking devices are generally used to suspend and move the bird carcass along a line of opposed pairs of pluckers which depiliate the carcass of all feathers from course to fine as the carcass travels along the processing line.
Typically, the pluckers of a processing line are powered by a motor which provides rotational force to each plucker via a chain or belt drive assembly. Early assemblies utilized a single motor connected to each plucker hub. This method facilitated accurate control of individual hub speed which is necessary to mesh opposing pairs of hubs and to synchronize sequential hubs. Due to the high cost of purchasing and maintaining individual motors, eventually hubs were spaced-apart in sequence so that a single motor could be used to drive multiple pluckers. Single drive hub assemblies eliminated multiple motors but had several inherent problems.
Either a V-belt or flat belt is used to transfer the rotational force from the motor to each sequentially aligned hub. Hub drives incorporate a smooth pulley commonly used for drive belt applications. The drive belts frequently have to be adjusted to maintain the desired, and necessary pressure and friction between the belt and pulleys to drive the multiple pickers. Problems exist in that the smooth belts stretch and constant maintenance and attention is required to control the drive force. Friction from belt slippage also accelerates wear and tear on hub assemblies, belts and motors.
Efforts to remediate the stated deficiencies resulted in a drive assembly which utilized drive chains and hub sprockets rather than belts and pulleys. This improvement resulted in constant and consistent force transferal from the drive source to the hub assemblies. However, it is common that the poultry being processed, or the shackles from which bird carcasses are suspended, become entangled or otherwise disrupt the plucker assembly. When, for instance, a shackle becomes entangled in single plucker, continual force of the drive source will cause the chain to shear the sprocket of that plucker. Further, problems in the plucking process can result in the jumping, or unwanted movement of the chain in relation to the sequence of hub gear assemblies. Often, hub gears are made of hardened plastic in an effort to minimize the cost incurred by shearing of sprocket teeth. These inexpensive systems are prone to failure and require significant maintenance due, in large part, to the intrusion of dirt, feathers and fecal matter into the moving parts.
Prior to Applicant's invention, the state of the art in the industry was either the “V” or flat belt technology, or the chain and gear assembly described above. Both of these assemblies require constant maintenance and adjustment. Because of belt slippage and the friction imparted on a hub assembly by the belt, hubs wear very quickly and must be rebuilt or replaced on a regular basis. Gear and chain drives require constant maintenance and because of shackle entanglement in pluckers result in the shearing of teeth from the sprocket. Further, Applicant's invention incorporates seals adjacent each bearing which significantly limits the intrusion of foreign matter into the workings of the hub assembly. The presence of the seals, along with the configuration of pulleys and belts, limits required maintenance and component replacement.